Sunday, May 3, 2009

Making Feta Cheese at Home!

If you want to dabble in cheese making then feta cheese is a great place to start.I have been using a lot of whey lately and was making yogurt and straining that to get the whey but I don’t get to much whey from a quart of yogurt.So I decided to make feta instead.

Here is what the process looked like…

I start with a gallon of milk and my culture and rennet.Then after the cheese has been made I hang it in an old sheet that I wash well in hot, soapy water with bleach added.I set a big pan under it to collect the whey:

Then after 24 hours or so I take the cheese down.Sometimes I will take the cheese down before the 24 hours are up and stir it and hang it up again to help get the whey completely drained out.When I am done this is what the cheese looks like:

And this is how much whey I have:

The last step is to cut the cheese up and layer cheese, salt and herbs in a quart jar.This time I used basil and marjoram.When I have it all in the jar I cover it with olive oil.Then it sits on the counter for 3 days.I turn the jar upside down once and then right side up during those 3 days..after that, it is ready to eat!